The American Psychiatric Associations Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), One of the most authoritative guides in diagnosing mental illnesses is about to make changes on how autism is defined. Once finalized next year, it is estimated that about half of Hong Kongs children currently diagnosed as autistic may be denied treatment.
As a result, a kid stripped off the label as autistic may not necessarily mean good news for his or her parents who have exerted all efforts just to have him or her live a normal life. Hong Kongs local psychiatrists rely on both manual and international standards when performing diagnosis and providing treatment.
Concern groups say some autistic patients could fall outside the official definition and no longer be given treatment in public hospitals. Those who belong to milder spectrum of autism would be misunderstood as merely naughty and no longer qualify for treatment.
The new definition may result in different recommendation, different school placement, and misclassified situation, said Dr Jeremy Greenberg, director of the Childrens Institute of Hong Kong, a school set up in 2003 for children with special needs. Indeed, this change could lead to more headaches for parents, a significant burden to affected children and unhealthy society where they belong. For instance, children who are no longer considered as autism patients can be admitted to a regular school. But their erratic behavior in the classroom could adversely impact academic performance of classmates.
Children may no longer be classified as having autistic disorder but medical definitions should not deprive them from the care and treatment they deserve.
See original here:
Redefining autism could be costly to parents, society